


Art for "Stay A Little; News Will Find You"

by akamine_chan



Category: Bandom, Comics Industry RPF, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Community: bandombigbang, Fanart, Graphics, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-22
Updated: 2013-06-22
Packaged: 2017-12-15 18:20:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/852596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akamine_chan/pseuds/akamine_chan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Art for the awesome story that fleurdeliser and tuesdaysgone wrote for BBB 2013.</p>
<p>Warning for large images and spoilers for the story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Art for "Stay A Little; News Will Find You"

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fleurdeliser](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleurdeliser/gifts), [tuesdaysgone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tuesdaysgone/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Stay A Little; News Will Find You](https://archiveofourown.org/works/853012) by [fleurdeliser](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleurdeliser/pseuds/fleurdeliser), [tuesdaysgone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tuesdaysgone/pseuds/tuesdaysgone). 



> I picked the summary of this story with the assumption that it was written by some combination of Fleur and Tuesdaysgone. Because let's be honest, if Grant Morrison is in it, it's got to be one of them.
> 
> This story pushed a lot of my buttons - stray cats, endearments (god, that fucking slays me every time), Grant and Gerard, scifi elements, and etc. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do the story justice with my art but I figured I'd give it a try.
> 
> There were a lot of technical issues with the art, but I had a lot of fun (and frustration) coming up with the ideas, especially the magazine cover and the interview. I was very pleased that Fleur and Tuesdaysgone liked the art. \o/
> 
> Many, many thanks to my art betas Andeincascade, Lucifuge5 and Shinetheway for their input, patience and ability to withstand being spammed with art at random intervals.

The cover of a recent issue of Helix Magazine, featuring the story that made Grant Morrison a household name.

This was the first piece I did, and I spent an inordinate amount of time fiddling with the different elements. The humanzee bit comes from a coworker who firmly believes in conspiracy theories, and told me all about the episode of Jessie Ventura's psudoreality conspiracy theory show that involved humanzees. Another coworker and I watched about 5 minutes of the show and were caught between disbelief and giggles at the ridiculousness of the show.

 

Gerard, pills and the warrens of New LA

One of the difficulties of creating graphics for this story was Gerard's appearance - Gerard is very young, but has his trademark red hair. I found lots of pictures of him looking young with red hair, but they were all blurry candids... I had to edit Gerard a little, because he had a big ole honking convention badge around his neck. I am not unpleased by the results. Also, all the building pictures I used are from Kowloon.

 

Over a hundred years ago, the old Hollywood sign was torn down to reflect a more modern view of the city...

I found one of those "create your own Hollywood sign" generators and had some fun with it. 

 

Old-fashioned postcard

Postcard!

 

An interview with Grant Morrison, from _Personalities!_ magazine.

My favorite piece out of the bunch, and the one that was the hardest to do, because I was trying to emulate a magazine article, so had to combine written as well as graphic elements...I had a lot of fun writing the actual article, trying to imagine what Grant would be like in this 'verse... Also, this is proof positive that I'm a total fucking scifi geek.

 

TUNA!

I thought about _drawing_ cats, but I really have no skills at drawing. But I wanted to incorporate cats 'n' tuna somehow. Luce's response to this art (totally out of context - she had no idea what the story was about) : "It's a little odd - I don't get it." *pets her*

 

Grant Morrison's city-issued press pass

I found a template at a company that makes ID cards and thought "oh!"

 

Gerard Way's city-issued press pass

\o/

 

New LA at night

Scifi cityscape

 

New LA at night, with a digital twist

Scifi cityscape with special effects!

And then, the text of the magazine article, from the fake _Personalities!_ magazine:

* * *

"Were you followed?"

And so starts my meeting with Grant Morrison, former news journalist and self-proclaimed defender of the underdog. We meet at a lower level coffee shop/bar/strip club in a sketchy part of town. It is unsurprisingly empty for noon, the dancers still in bed sleeping off their hangovers.

Mr. Morrison is unmistakable, an older man, tall with a shaved head, well-dressed, imposing. He's shadowed by a kid, a young man probably in his mid-twenties with neon red hair. Morrison doesn't introduce him. They both order coffee.

Morrison's handshake is firm, and his voice is a rough Scottish burr, well-suited to his natural inclination as a storyteller. He's been telling stories his whole life.

"It gets me into trouble, you know," he laughs. "Often." He slants a glance at the redhead, who smirks back at Morrison. "There's a thin line between stories and lies."

He found himself in New Los Angeles when his money and wanderlust ran out, and he's been here ever since. He'd always had a talent for spinning a tale, but it wasn't until he got to New LA that he tried to make it a career, first as a second string reporter for the _Times_ , and then later as a senior reporter for the _Daily_. His coworkers and bosses found Morrison to be a hard worker, relentless in pursuit of his story. Sometimes, _too_ relentless.

"I have issues with authority figures. And often, big stories about corruption and greed and scandal lead to the rich and powerful."

Morrison found himself stymied by his bosses, who didn't want him stirring up trouble with the higher-ups. After he was told to back off a story about graft and cronyism within the New LA Housing Commission, he quit.

"I would probably have been fired before too long," Morrison admits. He's stepped on a lot of toes during his years as a reporter.

He ended up freelancing for Warren Ellis at _Helix Magazine_ , which has a solid reputation for reporting, even if the subjects are a little...unorthodox. With _Helix_ , Morrison eyes were opened to a much wider world, one where alien abductions and lab-created animal hybrids were the norm. 

"There's truth and _truth_ ," he says. "The world is not what you think it is."

Morrison has become a household name since the story on the MM Corp's Mesa Inglewood plant broke, and he's not letting the fame go to his head. 

"I'm lucky," he says, shaking his head. "I have a job that I love, and it pays me enough to keep my cats in tins of tuna. What more could I ask for?" He smiles at his companion, affectionate and fond.

He talks about some of his more harrowing adventures, being chased by the infamous Men in Black, traveling to Baja to examine the purported corpse of a chupacabra, seeing a flying saucer with his own eyes while hiking here in New LA.

I ask if that's the legacy he wants to leave behind as a writer, and he snorts. "I put part of myself into everything I write, whether it's for _Helix_ or the _Times_. I'm not ashamed of anything I've done. It's all part of the process."

Any final words of advice for aspiring writers?

"Hard work. Don't be afraid of it."

In the end, I confess to being a fan of _Helix Magazine_ , pulling out a rare print copy and asking Morrison if he will sign it for me

"Oh, the fiendish fluoridators issue!" Morrison exclaims, mischief in his eyes. "One of my favorites."

-fin-


End file.
